My Nonprofit Reviews

As a host family, we had a terrible experience with BFF, hosting two students. The first was moody, ungrateful, entitled, contemptuous of Americans (we wondered why she was here), and never complied with the house rules, such as don't eat in your room, clean up after yourself and don't leave wet bath towels laying in the floor. We shared these problems with the coordinator, but they were NEVER addressed -- she blew them off each and every time. My wife has a part-time job, and her boss got COVID and was hospitalized. She went to SC for 5 days to run his store and then was exposed herself (by her mother), which added another 3 days due to her isolating. Apparently, the girls complained to the coordinator, and the malcontent one exaggerated, saying that we never included them in anything -- even going out to dinner twice a week without them. They felt like guests, not like family. (Nevermind that every moment we had was devoted to them -- taking them to Washington, DC, Williamsburg, VA, South Carolina, and they never asked to do something that we declined).
The coordinator visited for what we thought was a routine home visit. Instead, she blindsided us, saying that we were not including the girls in our lives and we had to fix it -- suggesting that my wife quit her job because it was taking too much time and when she was a host mom she had quit one of her jobs. We objected, saying that her information was outdated, inaccurate and exaggerated. It didn't matter. We were humiliated and felt completely unappreciated by the coordinator and the girls (although one later said that the coordinator did blow things totally out of proportion). Later that evening, things blew up. When we asked if the girls wanted to leave, Miss Trouble smiled, turned on her heels and skipped down the hall to pack. We called the coordinator who balked at picking them up, even had her supervisor call us and ask to wait until morning. But it was too late. She made that mess, and she had to take care of it.
It continues... a week later, the girls still have house keys, the coordinator ignores requests to get those, a request for an exit interview has gone ignored, and no one -- not one single person -- has thanked us for the sacrifice of time and expense to host these girls.
SO... if you are considering hosting a student through BFF, DO NOT do it if you live in NE Tennessee. Host ONLY a student that is on a scholarship (they might actually be grateful for the opportunity), and know this: the students are the assets -- they are the paying customer that must be made happy at all times and at all costs. If a host family interferes with their happiness, they become a liability and will be summarily dumped without so much as a "thank you."